Cold temperatures have impacted buses this cold winter. Here is the bus garage in Oxford.

The supervisory state board weighed in this week on a budding controversy of how to require students to make up the days – or hours – lost to snowstorms, dangerously cold weather and other foreseen occurrences.

Its message: Extend the school calendar deeper into June.

“Increased quality instructional time in which students are actively engaged in learning can have a positive effect on student achievement,” the board’s statement reads. “… The State Board of Education believes, and strongly encourages school districts to, replace additional lost days with full days of student instruction … Full replacement days offer every student the full extent of quality instruction that they missed when the school was closed.”

The State Board of Education is an elected body that serves in a supervisory capacity. Its statement is a recommendation, not an edict.

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Michigan public school students are required to attend school for 1,098 hours and at least 170 days per year. Each district is permitted to miss up to six days without penalty for inclement weather, power outages or other unforeseen events. Districts that fail to meet the minimum requirements face the possible loss of state financial aid.

But the winter of 2013-2014 has played havoc with schools’ schedules, and many districts already have exhausted or their allotment of snow days. A debate over how best to make up those days is underway.

State Rep. Phil Potvin introduced a bill recently that would permit the schools to lengthen the school day at least 30 minutes. The bill keeps the number of hours requirement unchanged, but waives the minimum number of days students must attend classes. A similar bill was enacted last year, but expired when the school year ended.

“Students in our state deserve to receive the required amount of education as set out in state law, but this winter has put many school districts in a difficult place, with some facing the possibility of going to school late into June,” said Potvin, R-Cadillac. “This legislation is designed to eliminate some of the problems while ensuring the students are getting all of their education.”

Potvin acknowledged no solution will please everybody, but argued an extension of the school day by half an hour would be the least disruptive.

“We are working to find the best approach to this situation for schools, teachers and students.,” he said. “There isn’t a perfect solution to this situation, but extending the length of days can prevent school going to the end of June.”

But the state board sees it differently.

“(Extending the school year) allows teachers to complete their full lesson plans with integrity and provide students with the appropriate depth of instruction they need to meet their instructional goals for every class,” the board wrote. “This is the better strategy to ensure that students will be ready for career, college and community.”